Published for LOVB Austin fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 24, 2026
🏐 LOVB Austin Fans — Your Back-to-Back Dynasty Is Waiting!
Two seasons. Two trophies. Both won the hard way. Austin are the only champions League One Volleyball has ever known, and the three-peat chase opens on December 16 in San Antonio. Wear the navy and violet — this dynasty is just getting started.
The Club
LOVB Austin are the first dynasty of American pro volleyball’s newest league — and the only champion it has ever crowned. Austin was announced on December 11, 2023 as LOVB’s sixth and final inaugural team location, with Olympic setter Carli Lloyd as the founding athlete, and the club unveiled a violet and dark blue identity chosen to capture the energy, creativity and famous “weirdness” of the city. Home is the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Cedar Park, Texas, where a roster rooted in the University of Texas — the inaugural squad featured eight or nine former Longhorns — has turned every home match into a burnt-orange family reunion in violet. In June 2025, Austin became the first LOVB Pro franchise sold to non-league ownership, backed by a group headed by David Blitzer, Spurs Sports & Entertainment’s Peter Holt and Amy Griffin. The results since? A No. 5 seed that stormed the 2025 Finals, then a No. 3 seed that repeated in 2026 — both runs sealed in deciding sets. Searching for a LOVB Austin jersey, the latest Austin schedule or Austin tickets? Start with the question Texas asks all winter: when do the champions play?
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Last Season (2026): Back-to-Back, the Hard Way
Nothing about the repeat was easy. Austin ground through the regular season at 10-10, tied for third on 26 points, playing a league-high-tying eight five-set matches and winning six of them — then had to win their final three matches just to make the playoffs. The last of them, on April 4, 2026 at Nebraska, was a win-and-in showdown that Madisen Skinner turned into her masterpiece: a league single-match record 34 points in a five-set win that eliminated Nebraska and punched Austin’s ticket. In the Louisville semifinal, Austin swept Atlanta 3-0, lost the rematch 2-3 despite forcing a marathon fourth set, then took the golden set 15-8. The championship series against Salt Lake in Long Beach went the distance too: a five-set loss in Game 1, a storming comeback from 2-1 and 15-11 down in Game 2, and another golden set won 15-8 to repeat as champions. Skinner was Championship MVP for the second straight year with 56 postseason points — and, for the second year running, Logan Eggleston put down the championship-clinching kill. The hard way, again.
Best Players Right Now (2026 Roster)
Madisen Skinner, Opposite Hitter (#6) — The face of the franchise and the league’s defining playoff performer: Championship MVP in both 2025 and 2026, second in the league in points (332) and kills (297) in 2026, and owner of the league’s single-match scoring record. A three-time NCAA champion from Katy, Texas.
Logan Eggleston, Outside Hitter (#33) — The founding athlete who powered both title runs as an Austin star: 53 postseason points in 2026, 15 kills and 14 digs in championship Game 2, and the title-clinching kill in both finals. The 2022 AVCA National Player of the Year left for Italy’s Chieri ’76 for 2026-27 — the jersey remains an all-time Austin classic.
Asjia O’Neal, Middle Blocker (#7) — The net anchor of the league’s best block: 12 points on .391 hitting with five blocks in championship Game 1. Texas’ all-time blocks leader, a two-time NCAA champion, and the middle every opponent game-plans around.
Carli Lloyd, Setter (#3) — The founding athlete and Olympic bronze medalist who took over the starting setter job late in 2026 and ran the title run — 91 assists across the semifinal round and Player of the Game in semifinal Match 1. She moves to LOVB Los Angeles for 2026-27.
Molly McCage, Middle Blocker (#5) — A two-time AVCA All-American who posted 13 points on .389 in championship Game 1 — and delivered the out-of-system set for Eggleston’s title-clinching kill.
Khat Bell, Opposite Hitter (#1) — Veteran right-side power from the Texas pipeline, in her second Austin season in 2026.
Madi Banks, Outside Hitter (#4) — U.S. national teamer and former Nebraska standout added for the 2026 title defense.
Juliann Faucette, Opposite Hitter (#13) — Veteran opposite and an original 2025 champion, still bringing right-side firepower.
Bella Bergmark, Middle Blocker (#11) — The 6-foot-3 rotation blocker across both championship teams.
Head coach: Erik Sullivan — The U.S. Women’s National Team head coach, a two-time Olympian as a player and a 14-season Texas associate head coach, who took over Austin for 2026 and won the championship in his first season.
Star Spotlight: Stories You Should Know
The record night in Omaha. April 4, 2026: win and you’re in, lose and the repeat dies in Nebraska. Madisen Skinner treated it like a coronation — 34 points, a league single-match record, on 28 kills, four blocks and two aces — as Austin won a five-set classic at Baxter Arena and eliminated the team they had swept in the 2025 final. It is the performance every future LOVB scoring record will be measured against.
The golden-set queen. LOVB’s playoff format ends tied series with a single set to 15 — and nobody owns that set like Skinner. She closed the semifinal golden set against Atlanta with a kill and then an ace, piled up 56 points across the 2026 postseason, and dragged Austin through a Game 2 championship comeback from 2-1 and 15-11 down. Two seasons, two Finals MVP awards. There is a reason the trophy keeps following her around.
Built in Texas. Skinner’s story is the Austin story: a Katy, Texas kid who won an NCAA title at Kentucky in 2020, came home to win two more at Texas in 2022 and 2023, collected the 2023 Honda Sports Award — and then became the face of the league’s first dynasty, the centerpiece of a roster steeped in Longhorn talent. When Austin needed a superstar to build a franchise around, she was already home.
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This Season (2026-27): The Three-Peat Chase
The dynasty defense begins with a statement game. On Wednesday, December 16, 2026, Austin open the new season against LOVB Nebraska at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio — the league’s First Serve showcase, staged alongside NCAA Championship Week — in a rematch of both the 2025 final and the April win-and-in classic. The league grows to 10 teams in 2026-27, and the rest of the schedule has not been released yet. Eight champions return, led by Skinner, O’Neal and Molly McCage, and the reinforcements are serious: setter Camryn Haworth, outside hitters Claire Chaussee and Brooke Nuneviller, middle Skyy Howard and liberos Lauren Briseño and Beatrice Negretti. The challenge is real, too — founding cornerstones Eggleston (Chieri ’76, Italy) and Lloyd (LOVB Los Angeles) have moved on, so the three-peat bid runs through a new backcourt. Nobody in this league has ever three-peated. Nobody had ever repeated, either — until Austin.
Mark Your Calendar: The Road Ahead
Circle the big one ahead, Austin fans — and relive the 2026 nights that built the dynasty before the three-peat chase begins:
- December 16, 2026 — 2026-27 season opener vs LOVB Nebraska: First Serve at Frost Bank Center, San Antonio — the champions open against the team they beat in the 2025 final and eliminated last April.
- December 17 & 20, 2026 — NCAA Championship Week: The national semifinals and final at the Alamodome share San Antonio with First Serve — one city, one huge volleyball week.
- Relive it — April 18, 2026, the Championship: Austin 3, Salt Lake 2 in Long Beach, plus a 15-8 golden set — Skinner MVP again, Eggleston with the clinching kill, back-to-back titles sealed.
- Relive it — April 11, 2026, the Semifinal: Atlanta won Match 2 behind a record 35 points from Ivonee Montaño — then Austin took the golden set 15-8 to reach another final.
- Relive it — April 4, 2026, at Nebraska: The win-and-in finale — Skinner’s league-record 34 points in a five-set classic at Baxter Arena. The December 16 rematch cannot come soon enough.
- Relive it — January 7, 2026, the Opener: The title defense began at H-E-B Center with a win over Nebraska — the same team Austin had swept in the 2025 final.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. LOVB Nebraska — the finals feud. The defining matchup of LOVB’s first two years. Austin swept Nebraska in the 2025 final, opened 2026 by beating them again, lost the March 20, 2026 rematch at home — then ended Nebraska’s season in the April 4 win-and-in five-setter behind Skinner’s record night. No wonder the league picked this pairing to open 2026-27 at First Serve.
2. LOVB Salt Lake — the golden-set rivalry. Austin’s 2025 run began with a reverse-sweep quarterfinal block party against Salt Lake — 43 combined blocks — and the 2026 championship series between them still needed a golden set to settle. Poulter and Kojima against Skinner is the league’s marquee individual duel.
3. LOVB Atlanta — the semifinal wall. Austin has ended Atlanta’s season twice: the 2025 semifinal reverse sweep of the No. 1 seed, and the 2026 semifinal in Louisville, where Atlanta won Match 2 behind Montaño’s record 35 points but lost the golden set 15-8. Atlanta set the regular-season standard both years — Austin keep beating them when it matters most.
4. LOVB Houston — the Texas war. The in-state grudge match. Houston were 2025’s No. 2 seed and the 2026 regular-season champions at 13-7 — but Austin own the trophies. Houston took the feisty four-set meeting on March 12, 2026; the titles, and the bragging rights, still live in Cedar Park.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When do LOVB Austin play next?
LOVB Austin open the 2026-27 season on Wednesday, December 16, 2026, against LOVB Nebraska at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, in the league’s First Serve event. The rest of the 2026-27 schedule had not been released as of October 2026.
Where do LOVB Austin play their home games?
At the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Cedar Park, Texas — Austin’s home in both the 2025 and 2026 championship seasons, with a capacity of 6,778.
How many championships have LOVB Austin won?
Two — the 2025 and 2026 LOVB Championships. Austin are the only champion in league history so far, winning both titles as a low seed (No. 5 in 2025, No. 3 in 2026) and sealing the 2026 repeat in a golden set against Salt Lake on April 18, 2026.
Where can I buy LOVB Austin fan gear?
Toxlay Sports offers fan-inspired apparel for Austin supporters — fan-designed gear made for real fans. Note that fan-inspired apparel is not official LOVB licensed merchandise.
Sources: LOVB, Wikipedia, OurSports Central, team announcements — schedules, rosters and records checked October 2026.
Keep Austin Weird — back-to-back champions, and the three-peat chase starts December 16.
